muriatic acid for water jacket cleaning

boler 76 · Oct 28, 2012

Has anyone used muriatic acid to clean the rust out of a "N" block and head, I wouldnt include the rad or pump? Just wondering the pros and cons Thanks

showcrop · Oct 28, 2012

I wouldn't because it is one of the stronger acids. I would use phosphoric. If you google phosphoric you will read about it converting rust and forming a protective coating on the surface.

Anonymous-0 · Oct 28, 2012

A previous subject seemed to have a consensus that it would eat away the metal.
Do a little surfing and you may find a product which is compatible.

Geo-TH,In · Oct 28, 2012

Got this from wikipedia;

Pickling of steel:

One of the most important applications of hydrochloric acid is in the pickling of steel, to remove rust or iron oxide scale from iron or steel before subsequent processing, such as extrusion, rolling, galvanizing, and other techniques.[6][18] Technical quality HCl at typically 18% concentration is the most commonly used pickling agent for the pickling of carbon steel grades.

Fe2O3 + Fe + 6 HCl ¨ 3 FeCl2 + 3 H2O

Leave the HCl in contact with rust and it will start removing the iron too.
George

boler76 · Oct 29, 2012

thanks for the input, maybe soda and vinegar is good enough??

rustyfarmall · Oct 29, 2012

(quoted from post at 18:33:17 10/28/12) Has anyone used muriatic acid to clean the rust out of a "N" block and head, I wouldnt include the rad or pump? Just wondering the pros and cons Thanks

If you could find a jug of muriatic acid from maybe 30 years ago, maybe longer, there would be instructions right there on the label for doing exactly what you want to do. It seems that there was even instructions on how to use it for a complete cooling system cleaning. Engine, water pump, radiator, the whole system. I would be afraid to use it in todays aluminum radiators, but I don't think I would hesitate to use it in a cast iron engine block from 60 to 70 years ago.

buickanddeere · Oct 29, 2012

Vinegar will only fiz on deposits. Have an old Petter PH1 here that an Amish used for 30 years to power the milker vacuum pump.
The Amish must have been using just an open barrel as a radiator. The cylinder head was plugged solid with only one small passage from the cylinder block to the coolant outlet on the head.
Cylinder block was little better.
It took several soakings. Three days at a time in Muratic acid to loosen the lime, calcium, mud, manure, dust, and livestock feed. And several sessions of poking into the water passages to chisel the deposits out. Used the sand blaster as well on some stubborn un-reachable corners.
Near as can be told. The only cooling the engine had was the thermal inertia of the castings and oil splash with heat radiated off the sides of the crankcase.

boler76 · Oct 29, 2012

Thanks for that insight

SweetFeet · Oct 29, 2012

boler76,
It is pretty caustic stuff. My husband used it to rust up some cotter keys and bolts. Missed one cotter key when removing them from the acid - he found it a few days later and the cotter key was eaten away to almost paper thinness.

504 · Oct 29, 2012

Just plan on replacing all of the welch plugs, they
will last about a year before they all start
leaking.

muriatic acid for water jacket cleaning

boler 76

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